Legacy's Curse
by CJwat15
Summary: In the realm of Eshana, Ferren is being trained as the new heir to his family due to his parents being wandering knights. The corrupt ideals his other elders try to teach make him feel disgusted, so he decides to follow his parent's footsteps and write a new chapter for his family. The question he keeps asking himself however, is if he is really worthy to carry on this legacy.


Ferren took a deep breath as he leveled a dull sword at his brother. It was sparring day at their mansion, and Ferren's older brother Samuel wanted to test him.

"Ready? Begin!" An instructor called out before Samuel lunged forward with his rapier.

Ferren quickly brought his blade up to parry as he delivered a solid blow to Samuel's chest with his fist.

Samuel recoiled as Ferren locked blades with him, before trying to retaliate with his own punch. Ferren however, ducked under the punch before sweep kicking Samuel onto his back.

"Yield!" Ferren yelled as he pointed his blade at his brother's throat.

Samuel wisely gave up before the instructor came up to them.

"A fine match. Ferren, your skills have come a long way. I'm pleased to see you use both hands, regardless of a weapon. Your parents would be proud to see you become the heir to our family." he said as Ferren nodded politely.

Ferren got back to his spacious room before throwing his dull practice sword into one of his many closets.

It was surprisingly easy to lose things or get lost in his room, which could've easily qualified as a small house.

However, Ferren knew exactly where the gold that bought this room and mansion came from. Slave labor, black market activities, and other dastardly deeds; all done by his elders.

Well, apart from his parents that is. They were travelling the world as noble wandering knights, and Ferren had decided to follow that path as well.

Tomorrow morning, he would be leaving the comfortable city of Vashire on a journey of self-discipline and discovery.

He then walked over to the far corner of his room where a rickety wardrobe from his parents was. Supposed because it was a present from his parents, his elders who lived in this mansion didn't touch it. Upon opening it, a large backpack filled with adventuring gear was inside, along with a few other tools and a beautifully crafted bastard sword in a leather sheath.

The only thing that was missing was armor. Ferren could always grab a set from the mansion's sparring armory though.

Ferren then realized it was almost dinner time, so he quickly made his way to the dining hall to grab something before his family did.

Even though dinner hadn't started yet, the servants had already laid out a massive spread of luxury dishes.

As Ferren walked towards the table, the servants nodded towards him and didn't interfere.

Ferren then grabbed a plate and started loading it with food from the banquet laid before him. He then stalked back to his room while grabbing a bottle of wine.

Back in his room he devoured his plate while going over a map of the world and one of his parent's journals they had left behind. He had marked a route on the map, towards the main trade city of Redmond to the south in the desert region of Eshana.

He quickly packed the map into a scroll case in his backpack, before a servant came into his room.

"Pardon me Mr. Shannir but your uncle wishes to speak with you." the servant said.

"Ugh, not again. You can take my plate and my apologies to him. I'd rather not speak with him unless it's an emergency." Ferren replied coldly as the servant went wide eyed, but obeyed and left.

Ferren then threw himself onto his bed, hoping to get some rest before the journey tomorrow.

He woke up to the strange feeling of something. Even though there was nothing and it was still dark outside his window, he quietly made his way to the closet with his supplies , grabbed everything, and holstered his sword on his hip.

Quickly scurrying to his room door and opening it, he skulked through the hallways towards the sparring arena.

When he arrived, a few servants were putting out the torches in the yard, so Ferren waited for a few of them to be snuffed out before creeping towards the equipment shack.

He grabbed a suit of steel scale mail with gauntlets along with a special set of cloth that would protect him from hot climates.

Leaving the shack in complete darkness, he headed for the gates...only to hear a strange humming.

"What the hell?" Ferren mumbled, and his curiosity got the better of him as he entered the mansion once again. It was coming from the basement.

Ferren tiptoed down the stairs, carefully making sure that the armor strapped to his backpack didn't clang against the wall.

A strange purple glow was coming from the bottom. Ferren rounded the corner and saw his uncle in the study. It seemed that his uncle had gotten the servants to clear everything out, but the shocking part was the circle in the center of the study.

Ferren recognized that it was a demonic ritual circle, and without even thinking he ran back upstairs without caring if anyone heard him.

He burst through the doors and towards the front gates.

BOOM! A large explosion came from behind him, and Ferren turned to see his family mansion being engulfed by a large purple explosion. He bolted for the gates and struggled to bust them open.

A strange sound filled the air, and Ferren turned to see various bits of debris flying from the explosion. He threw his backpack aside, drew his sword, and used it to break

through the gate, but a sudden burst of pain ripped through him.

"ARGH!" Ferren cried out as he looked down and saw that a large piece of rubble had impaled him.

He fell to his knees as blood seeped out of his throat. Grasping his sword with his remaining strength, he used it to drag himself outside the gates before passing out.

Ferren awoke in a white bed in a small room. He recognized this building, it was the Cathedral of Pelor that was near his mansion. He gasped in pain as he noticed that his chest had been healed and bandaged up. His backpack and equipment had also been neatly arranged on a table and armor stand.

"Urk…" he groaned as he picked himself up, only for the door to the room to swing open as a young priestess moved up to him.

"Mr. Shannir. You're finally awake. We thought you'd never recover from your wound." the priestess said.

"Neither did I. How long have I been asleep?" Ferren asked as he grasped his chest.

"Two weeks. The townsfolk found you outside your mansion's gates, and they're cleaning up the mess that strange explosion caused." she replied as she handed Ferren a glass of water, which he graciously gulped down.

"So, where are you going to go Mr. Shannir?" the priestess curiously asked.

"On a personal journey of self-discovery. I'll be heading towards the city of Redmond." Ferren replied.

The priestess nodded but told Ferren to talk to the head priestess before leaving. Ferren was confused but decided to follow her orders.

"Hello Ferren. I must say, you have grown. I remember when your parents brought you in for a blessing." the head priestess Miathu Marbleclaw said with a smile.

"Um...thank you Your Benevolence." Ferren awkwardly replied. He felt rather uncomfortable that he was feeling attraction towards a member of the clergy. Miathu was quite beautiful and elegant however, so Ferren felt his feelings were somewhat justified.

"I've heard that you will be heading to the main trade city of Redmond. Before you leave however, I wish to inform you that you might never be the same due to your wounds." she sighed.

"Did it hinder my ability to fight?" Ferren asked with concern.

"No, you were quite lucky that someone got you here for treatment quickly. What I mean is that those wounds will never fully heal. Your mental wounds if not your physical ones." she solemnly stated.

Ferren contemplated this for a bit before responding.

"I'll be fine. These wounds are probably nothing compared to what happened in the basement of my family's mansion." he replied.

Miathu then nodded as Ferren bowed and excused himself.

He quickly headed back to his room before donning his scale mail, holstering his sword at his side, and slinging his backpack on his back.

He waved farewell to the other priestesses and Miathu before heading outside.

Ferren covered his eyes as he stepped outside into the bright day. Once he recovered, he looked to where his mansion used to be.

There was now nothing more than a ruin with citizens scrounging through the rubble.

"You brought this upon yourself Uncle. May the devils have mercy on your soul." Ferren sighed as he turned to leave the city.

Maybe he would come back one day to assume his role as heir to the Shannir family, but he knew quite well that he wasn't ready.


End file.
